Out of Office: In God's Country

Zion and Bryce Canyon National Parks, Utah
May 6-9

Welcome to Zion! National Park #3

On the morning of May 6th Shaun and I packed up early, took a last drive through Grand Canyon National Park and headed north toward Utah. Utah is the home of five of the nations' fifty-eight National Parks, but since we only have six weeks we knew we wouldn't be able to visit them all. For our visit to Utah, we chose Zion NP and Bryce Canyon NP, mainly because we had heard great things about them, but also because of their proximity to the Grand Canyon and to each other. In fact, we left the Grand Canyon in the morning and we arrived at Zion National Park by about one in the afternoon!

As I mentioned in my last post, we were both thinking we may have set ourselves up for a letdown by doing Grand Canyon first, but we needn't have worried. Within minutes of passing through the gates of Zion, we were both in love with this place.

Amazing wonders right inside the East Entrance. Above is the Checkerboard Mesa, a naturally coourring checkerboard pattern in sandstone and below, just a beautiful valley in Zion.

The area composing Zion was originally named Mukuntuweap National Monument, and was set aside in 1909 by President William Howard Taft in order to protect the beautiful canyon from development. In 1919, the site was designated a National Park and given a new name. It had been commonly called Zion, a name meaning "place of refuge" or "heavenly city" by the local Mormon community. It was a fitting name for such a beautiful place and the name would take on greater symbolism for me by the time we left as I thought at one point I was going to meet my maker there! But more on that later.

We had tried to get a camping reservation at Zion online, but there was only one campground open that took reservations and that one was full, so we arrived hoping to get a camp site in one of the first come, first served campgrounds. At the last minute we decided to go to the supposedly full Watchman Campground just on the off chance they had a cancellation. We were in luck! They had one site available for one night in spot C1. We jumped at it even though it meant we may have to move the second day. When the next morning rolled around, we walked to the ranger station early in the morning to see about the possibility of one more night at that campground even if we had to move. The ranger asked us what spot we were in and smiled when we said C1, it was available for one more night. Our good luck continued!

Our campsite was in a gorgeous spot

We spent that first afternoon exploring the East side of the park and getting set up at our campsite, which included grocery shopping and making dinner. The facilities at the Watchman campground were nicer than at Grand Canyon (nicer bathrooms and dish washing facilities) and there were other little things I really liked. For instance, there is no bottled water sold at Zion. Instead, they have spigots with purified local water all over the park that you can freely use to refill your re-usable water bottles. (Grand Canyon also had potable water spigots but at Zion it was much more prevalent.) Also, their shuttle service was faster and way more interesting! As you made your way up through the Canyons, an audio recording narrated interesting facts about the park and all the different shuttle stops. By the time you arrived at your destination, you knew lots more about this place.

See the window? They built a tunnel through this massive mountain on the East side of the park to get to the valley below. And they did it in the 1920s!

So there we were in this beautiful place, a place known for some of the most incredible hikes in the country. We both wanted nothing more than to do some exploring, so we went to the Welcome Center and talked to a nice ranger about hiking suggestions. The most famous hike there is called Angels Landing, but we had been amply warned that it was not for anyone with fear of heights. In fact, there is a sign at the beginning of the Angels Landing trail that spells it out. "Since 2004", it reads "six people have died falling from the cliffs on this route". One ranger described it as being about 24 inches wide with a single rail, along a cliff. This was clearly not the trail for me.

The ranger we talked to asked us what we had done in Grand Canyon and when we said Bright Angel and South Kaibob trails, he said "Oh, well then Observation Point is the one for you!" The printed park guide described it as a 5 hour, 8 mile, strenuous hike with an elevation change of 2148 feet. It did mention "long drop-offs", but unlike Angels Landing and Hidden Canyon, it didn't specifically say that it was not for anyone fearful of heights. Plus, after all I had done in the last year I really was starting to feel like I was more in control of that fear. I had shown it who was boss. I was ready for anything.

So that morning we did our usual preparations. We put on sunscreen, shorts, light layered shirts, jackets and our high topped hiking boots. We packed up lunches and snacks and plenty of water and we jumped on the shuttle. It was about a half hour ride up to the Weeping Rock trailhead and I was a little nervous, but nothing more than usual. And when we started walking the trail, any nervousness quickly went away as I concentrated on making my legs and lungs pull me up the steep switchbacks that started the trail. We knew roughly what the trail was like; switchbacks for a while, then a trip through a canyon, then more switchbacks that would lead to the top of a ridge-line where you would walk out to Observation Point and see for miles across Zion Canyon. It sounded gorgeous and it was.

See the switchbacks below? That's what we were climbing

This is the when you are at the top of the first part of the trail. I mean really, does it get any more beautiful than that???

Once the initial first climb was over, we came through the Canyon and both of us were just stunned by how beautiful it was. The water had carved the rock into soft orange and brown curves that gave the whole thing an otherworldly look. There was nobody else around as we came through the canyon and it was quiet and beautiful. We lingered a bit to take pictures but we finally decided we had better move on. We still had lots of climbing to do. As we began climbing the next stretch of switchbacks, it felt a bit steeper, but in most cases the switchback was just above another so in my head I knew that if I fell, I would just land below on the other trail. That was all I needed to keep things in check.

And then there was the beautiful canyon...

After a while things started to get even steeper and just as I was getting nervous we came across another hiker who said we were almost there. She said we had a couple more steep parts to go and then we would reach the ridge to Observation Point. About a half hour was her estimate. Thirty minutes was definitely something I could handle, so we pressed on. As we got closer to the top, the trail started to change. The drop-offs got steeper and steeper and eventually we were walking along ridges that had no trail below. I was getting more nervous, but there was still a small incline at the edge of the ridge. In most cases it was just an incline of about an inch or two,nothing that could save you, but it made me feel like there was a buffer between me and the edge and so we pressed on and I didn't say anything about my growing unease. After all, I was still the boss of my fears.

Because there was this little gravel incline at the edge of the cliff, I kept myself in check. I was the boss of my fears after all!

And then I wasn't. It came on like lightning. One minute we were walking around a corner and the next I was absolutely frozen. The change was subtle but substantial in my mind. Where before the trail had inclined up, here the edge of the trail angled down. Or maybe it didn't. Maybe it was just level, it didn't matter. The imaginary buffer between me and a two thousand foot drop was gone and I was frozen. I quietly said Shaun's name and he turned around. He knew immediately that I was in trouble.

If you don't have any fear of heights, it is nearly impossible to understand what happens in that moment. I've always described it as a self-fulfilling prophecy. Your greatest fear is falling from a height, which in a normal situation will not happen. But when you are seized with the fear it makes you dizzy and makes your breath shallow and your feet feel like they are literally nailed to the floor. That is what makes it so dangerous. And now I had basically put myself in that situation and only I could get myself out.

Thank God for Shaun. Anyone else would have given me all sorts of suggestions and prods which probably would have made me even more stressed, but Shaun just stopped and asked me what I wanted him to do. Should he come closer or stay away? Did I want him to take my arm? Did I just need time? I don't know how long we stood there, but I know in my mind it felt like an eternity. Thank God nobody came along. I explained what was happening and somehow just talking it over made a little bit of difference. I knew we were so close to the ridge-line and more solid ground and I also knew I would need to recover before attempting the descent. Finally after some deep breathing and a lot of internal pep talks I managed to move one foot, and then the other. I counted the steps in my head, just focusing on picking up each foot and moving it forward. Within minutes we had reached the red clay that marked the solid ground leading out to Observation Point. I could have cried.

I managed to take two photos at Observation Point before retreating into the trees to lie down. Enjoy!

Its a LONG way down. But a beautiful view from the top

At Observation Point, Shaun walked around taking photos and looking at the amazing view out over the park. There were lots of people up there who had done the hike resting on the rocks and taking pictures to prove they had done it. I was still a little shaky so I found a nice shady spot underneath a small tree and laid down for a while, trying to get my bearings back. Shaun was still taking pictures when I heard someone comment that the wind had really picked up. I looked around and noticed for the first time that there was definitely a storm coming in. Panicked, I found Shaun and we started the hike back as dark clouds gathered above.

In retrospect, the storm was probably a good thing. I was so freaked out about being on that mountain ledge in a storm of any sort that we really picked up the pace and just pushed on through. When we got to the sloping ledge, I just counted my steps in my head again and focused on moving my feet forward until finally, we were beyond that place and moving down the switchbacks toward the canyon. We made the journey down in half the time of the journey up, and we were both exhausted by the time we got back to camp that night. Personally, I'm still proud that I completed the hike, but I'm also probably a little more wary of what I can and cannot handle.

My hero hiking back through the canyon after our long day

The next day we did more hiking, some together, some separate. Shaun wanted to do the Hidden Canyon trail, which was not an option for me. (That one specifically called out Fear of Heights as an issue). So we spent the morning doing some small, easy hikes together. We did the little Weeping Rock trail and then the beautiful Riverside Walk, where we ate our lunch in a sunny spot by the river. Then we split up for the afternoon. Shaun headed back to the ridges and Hidden Canyon and I headed to do the Emerald Pools trails. We each hiked for about three hours, just at very different elevations!

Hiking the Riverside Walk. Note the elevation!

The Riverside Walk was beautiful and there was almost zero chance of dying

And two pics from the Emerald Pools trail. (The pools weren't that impressive, but the scenery along the hike was great)

We were both sad to leave Zion. I still can't believe this park is such a well kept secret. It was a peaceful and beautiful place, and the hiking was incredible. We will definitely make an effort to return here again for a longer stay.

The next day we entered our fourth National Park and our second in Utah, Bryce Canyon. Where Zion had been a place of beauty and nature, I can only describe Bryce as magical. It truly looks like it should be the home of fairies and elves. The mineral rich sandstone has been worn away until all that is left are Hoodoos, tall sandstone cones in vibrant colors of red, pink, orange, purple and white, created by the erosion of cliffs. The abundant Hoodoos at Bryce range from human-sized to a hundred feet high. When grouped together, they truly look like a magical village made of melting ice cream. Since words just can't capture the beauty and strangeness of Bryce, here are some of my favorite pictures from that day in the Canyon.